Predator and Checker?
by Yellow Drake X
Summary: Eliza lives a deadend life, and there's no escaping that...but her life nearly becomes a dead one when Xenomorphs attack. With family, friends, and a wounded Yautja in her care, Eliza has to learn to take charge  fast. ActionHumorRomanceWhathaveyou.


**Predator and…Checker?**

**Chapter One – A Dull Night, Really**

Eliza's POV

The closing shift used to freak me out, but that was over a year ago. Now…it just bored me. And when I say bored…I meant bored. A boring little store for a boring little girl.

Well, not really little. I just turned twenty-two a few months ago, and I'm just not all that remarkable. Average height, fairly average build- I could stand to lose a few pounds, but I'm still fairly fit, although I'm a bit curvier than much of my friends. Plain brown hair, nothing much remarkable there, hanging just past my shoulders and almost always in a ponytail or braid of some sort, to keep it out of the way. I swear, my hair has a life of it's own, if I let it loose, even now- tightly pulled back –a few wispy, loose little curls always manage to come in front of my ears and get in front of my eyes and cheeks. Plain, dark gray eyes, like clouds before a storm, or just old river-rocks as far as I can tell. Caucasian, to say the least, with my Polish-German ancestry it's amazing I'm not white as paste, but I spend a good amount of time outside.

There's not much else to do here, in Clear Water. Small town, in the middle of nowhere- AKA Northern Wisconsin. We're surrounded by thick forests and farmlands, and not much else unless you're up for a good drive.

With a sigh, I picked a bit of lint off the front of my work shirt. This is, after all, my workplace. FoodStuffs grocer, in Clear Water. Small, and let me be honest, in two years of working here, I've seen three people come in after 11 at night, and we don't close until midnight.

I was the only person in the store, even the manager and supervisor left earlier, since they knew that I could close up easily. It wasn't that hard, just to go around the store and lock all the doors and whatnot, turn all the lights off when I leave. Easy. Easy-peasy.

Despite the crushing boredom, that bought everything into a hazy sort of focus. The work-issued shirt, the same dullish red as the store's signature color, itched, the collar always made my neck itch and it was about as unflattering and annoying as it came, the little white name tag reading ELIZA K. in bold black letters. The khaki's had little streaks of dust and grime on them, unnoticeable unless you looked, from the day, and the keys to the place were clipped onto the belt, jingling slightly every time I shifted my weight. I was pretty sure that, beyond the bars a few streets down, this place was the only thing open in town.

Splendid. Another long, boring night.

Sitting up on my counter to rest my legs, I gazed absently out the front doors of the store, the glass turning into opaque mirrors against the darkness, showing me a tired, bored reflection. I really like those adjectives or adverbs or whatever they are. Don't look at me, I nearly failed English. Kinda makes my attempts to become a novelist seem pretty funny, but it makes sense when you consider the rejection slips I've gotten…

Turning to look down at my feet, the immaculate white sneakers simple and plain, I sighed and kicked my legs a little. There was some faint noise I couldn't make out, muffled and distant, and I shook my head.

"Auditory hallucinations…common from those experiencing little stimulation…" I muttered out loud to myself. At least I didn't talk to myself all that much in front of people, it was just nice to hear something beyond the hum of the air systems.

But then…there it was again. Closer, slightly louder, and this time it wasn't just an illusion. I could hear it distinctly, some screeching, howling noise that made my instincts want to run and hide, but she held firm. Probably just some raccoons or something fighting in an alleyway…except…raccoons didn't sound like that.

Now there wasn't a space of silence, it just continued, and it was getting closer. Sliding down from my perch on the counter, I reached under my cash drawer to where I kept my little personal box, something we all had, and found the cold little spray bottle heavy in my hand. The pepper spray had always seemed oddly ineffective to me, but then again, I never used it before, never had a reason to.

And I really hoped I wouldn't have a reason to use it tonight.

Letting out a small breath, I relaxed just a slight bit as it fell silent again, and chuckled to myself for being such a spaz. I just was, sometimes.

I barely had time to realize that I was justified, though, as reflex took over and I ducked down behind the counter and covered my head with my arms, tucking my face down to my knees as the glass doors shattered, something fast and just as inky black as the night moving through them. I didn't have time to think, to see what it was, I just had time to react, letting out a shriek and a few cuss words, too. Glass pelted down on the floor and counter, only a few pieces going far enough to hit me, and not enough to even hurt me, but I could feel their cold weight in my hair on the sleeves of my shirt.

Everything was still for a very long moment, until I heard the raspy noise of just…movement, very, very close. And slowly, shaking, I looked up, cracking my eyes open…and I met the face of a monster.

_SKREEEEEEE_

"AAAAAAAH!"

And let me tell you, at that moment, I was completely unashamed to admit that I screamed like a little girl. Because there was nothing else to be done, in that situation.

Nothing.

-- Disclaimer --

I don't own anything from Aliens, Predator, or any other works referanced. The town of Clear Water and it's residents are completely fictional and mine. Woo.


End file.
